REP.BELTRAN WOULD SOON

CEASE BEING A ‘SQUATTER’

·        48,500 other families to benefit from HB 3953  

After 16 years as a squatter resident at the National Government Center (NGC) in Constitutional Hills, Quezon City, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran and around 48,500 other families would soon have a place which they can really call their own   following the approval of House Bill 3953, also known as National Government Center Housing Act.

            According to House Committee on Housing and Urban Development Chairman Prospero C. Nograles, the bill which was approved for the second and third reading Tuesday by the joint committee on housing and natural resources, will legalize the occupation of thousands of squatters who have settled at the 444-hectare NGC site in Quezon City.

Nograles said that during the joint committee deliberation of the bill, Beltran brought along the leaders and representatives of some 50 urban poor associations who are also squatter residents at the NGC site.

“They were profusely thankful that after 16 years of waiting, they might soon be able to finally secure their land titles and lay legitimate claim on the lands that they now occupy,” Nograles said as he lauded House Speaker Jose de Venecia for ensuring the swift passage of HB 3953.

            The Davao City solon also revealed that apart from Beltran, former Cotabato Rep. Gregorio Andolana would be also a beneficiary of HB 3953. He said that the proposed measure is expected to be passed into law next month.

Nograles, who co-authored the bill with De Venecia and Quezon City Rep. Ismael Mathay III, said that the proposed measure would unlock a contentious land ownership issue involving 422 hectares of government real estate at the 444-hectare National Government Center (NGC).

 The 444-hectare land at Constitutional Hills was reserved as a National Government Center site in 1979 by former President Marcos through presidential Decree No. 1826. The site was envisioned as a one-stop-shop for all national government  agencies but the project failed to materialize.

 Instead of turning the area into a government center, Former Presidents Aquino and Ramos saw the need to dispose the land for residential use in order to address the growing squatter problem in the metropolis.

They have  issued separate presidential proclamations appropriating 422 hectares of the 444-hectare NGC site for disposition to bona fide residents but their actions were voided by the Supreme Court.

The SC ruled that they cannot amend Marcos’ PD 1826 without a valid act of legislation by Congress. The SC ruling effectively refuses to recognize the land ownership claims of the residents who were beneficiaries of the presidential proclamations issued by Aquino and Ramos.

“ The titles which were issued during the time of Cory and FVR were voided by the Supreme Court. Congress has to pass a bill to resolve the defects cited by the SC in relation to the proclamations of Cory and FVR,” Nograles explained.

The SC also declared that the area could not be appropriated for residential use because it was classified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a “forested area.”

This High Court’s ruling prevented the residents to secure their land titles and have been since under constant threat of being evicted from their houses.